Pyramid Review

Song and Silence (for Dungeons & Dragons)

Written by David Noonan and John D. Rateliff

96 pages; $19.95

The latest installment in the guidebook series for Dungeons and Dragons
features the two most urban character classes: bards and rogues. While
these two classes are quite possibly the most versatile of classes, this
book primarily focuses on the two most popular aspects of these classes:
music and thievery. There's also a few goodies tossed in for the
assassin prestige class.

So, let's break out the old formula and go through the chapters.

Chapter one is the goody that seems obligatory for any D&D supplement:
prestige classes. And they offer some jim-dandies in this one. For those
pining for the days of Unearthed Arcana, there is the return of the
thief-acrobat, now reworked as a prestige class. Also, there is the Fang
of Lolth, which starts with the assumption that a PC tries to access an
artifact not meant for humanoids with a Use Magic Device roll. Hijinks
ensue.

The rest of the prestige classes, while they are interesting and fulfill
crucial roles, do not make stretch the genre my motor run and the way
that the Fang of Lolth does. Yes, the crime-fighting Vigilante, the
Robin Hood-ish Outlaw of the Crimson Road, and the swashbuckly Dread
Pirate do exactly what a prestige class is meant to do: help to define a
setting. Got a port city with ships going in and out of it? Sure, Dread
Pirate is a possible . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.